Mechanical strength study of Off-Road vehicle chassis body materials

Abstract The design and development of vehicle chassis is essential part of automobile production sector because the vehicle self-weight and entire external load (including passenger weight) are built on the chassis frame. The chassis is a significant integral part of the vehicle. The design and development of Off-road vehicle (ORV) are to be influenced by design criteria, its material selection, and components convenience. This paper is covering the material behaviour study of ORV chassis in terms of mechanical strength, durability, fatigue, etc. The result of proposed work is get the best techniques to build the safest roll cage (RC) as per material selection, designing, ergonomics, manufacturability and different parameters that have to be kept in intellect whereas planning an off-road vehicle. This venture will accomplish an off-road vehicle that looks aggressive and at the same time keeps the driver and other crucial constituents like motor, powertrain etc. unharmed interior of the RC. The 22 commercial engineering materials have been investigated for chassis development, mainly AISI 4130 material is most popular due to high tensile strength in all available materials. The ANSYS model of tubular chassis frame has been demonstrated in terms of front, side and rare impact load according to SAE vehicle development norms.